5 reasons Greenpeace calls for new global tax rules at UN Tax Convention negotiations

The Brooklyn Bridge and the New York City skyline are obscured by smoke. Smoke from Canadian wildfires triggered air quality alerts in more than a dozen U.S. states with health officials warning people, especially those in sensitive groups, such as children, the elderly or with respiratory conditions, to limit their time outdoors or stay inside. © Katie Camosy / Greenpeace

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifting through New York City’s streets sparking renewed health alerts is a stark reminder of what’s at stake at the UN Tax Convention negotiations this August. It’s a visceral symbol of our rigged economic system that is currently letting the super-rich and corporate polluters profit from destruction while people and the planet are picking up the tab. To tackle this mess, we need to change the rules: we need an economy that prioritises fairness and environmental protection, instead of propping up big polluters’ greed.

Inside the UN Headquarters, countries from around the world are negotiating a global tax convention. This is a truly historic opportunity to curb inequality and tackle the climate crisis. It’s a chance to prise power from the grip of a club of rich countries who currently set global tax rules, and shift to a system in which all nations have a say. A fairer global tax system could make those most responsible for the crisis finally pay their share, and fund a just transition the world urgently needs.

Greenpeace International activists from across Europe symbolically “confiscated” private planes at the Engadin airport in Samedan, Switzerland, which is used by participants of the World Economic Forum (WEF). © Nina Fink / Greenpeace

1.  Changing the tax system is vital to break up the power of extreme wealth and to hold oil and gas corporations and the super-rich to account for the damage they’ve done

For decades, governments have allowed loopholes in our tax systems so that the richest people and corporations gain more wealth and continue to destroy our planet at the expense of everyone else.

It has allowed extreme wealth to be concentrated among an elite few, perpetuating inequality. The richest 1% own more than 95% of humanity’s wealth, yet they pay proportionately less tax than you and me. Five oil and gas corporations alone reported over US$100 billion in total profit cumulatively for 2024. 

Meanwhile oil and gas corporations are fuelling the climate crisis; and the super-rich are driving climate breakdown through their highly polluting luxury lifestyles – private jets, megayachts, and investments. The wealthiest 1% emit as much carbon as the bottom two-thirds of humanity. 

The more money and power corporate polluters and billionaires accumulate, the more polluted, unfair and undemocratic the world becomes, and the harder life gets for the rest of us. We need new rules to hold them accountable and stop them from destroying our world. We need fairer tax rules that will make them pay more in taxes. We need to end tax injustice.

2. There is enough money but it is in the wrong hands. Global tax rules are unfair and rigged to favour the few over everyone else

Since 2015, the wealth of the world’s richest 1% has surged by over US$ 33.9 trillion, enough to end annual poverty 22 times over. Between 2000 and 2019, the profits of the fossil fuel industry amounted to US$31.315 trillion. This equates to about US$4.3 billion per day! 

Despite the massive wealth, super-rich and corporate polluters are not being required to pay their fair share in taxes. This is compounded by tax avoidance and evasion. It is estimated that countries are losing US$492 billion in tax a year to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals using tax havens to underpay tax. 

This is not just an issue of fairness, it’s also what the public wants. A Greenpeace International and Oxfam commissioned survey conducted across 13 countries found that 86% of people support channeling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities most impacted by the climate crisis. 90% of people support increasing taxes on the super-rich to enable increased government spending on supporting communities most affected by climate disasters.

Ahead of President Marcos Jr’s SONA (State of the Nation Address), Greenpeace Philippines activists held a creative protest in a flooded neighborhood in Malolos, Bulacan to spotlight the urgent need for climate accountability. As the nation continues to grapple with the impacts of multiple extreme weather disturbances, Greenpeace Philippines is calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to demonstrate real climate leadership in his upcoming State of the Nation Address by making the biggest contributors to the climate crisis pay their fair share. © Noel Celis / Greenpeace

3. Fair global tax rules are key to tackling poverty, climate change, and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals

Governments are far off track to end global poverty, tackle the climate crisis and deliver on sustainability commitments that they had adopted a decade ago. This lack of progress is threatening the future of humanity and our natural world, and it’s costing us a huge amount too. Climate damage to farming, infrastructure, productivity, and health could knock US$38 trillion a year off the global economy by 2050. Lower-income countries are estimated to face climate-related losses and damages of over US$300 billion annually.

UN climate talks are stalling because many Global North countries claim that there’s not enough money to deliver on their international climate finance obligations. This is leading to a breakdown in trust between countries and is undermining further action and cooperation to cut emissions. 

But it’s clear that there’s no lack of money – this is about political will to hold the super-rich and big polluters to account and to reform the rules for the fair distribution of wealth. A UN Tax Convention is a vital piece in the puzzle: those who profit from pollution must pay their fair share to unlock critical funds needed to invest in a sustainable and more resilient future.

4. A more inclusive and democratic system for setting global tax rules

Researchers have calculated that annual global revenue losses from tax loopholes in the extractives sector – including oil, gas and mining – amount to at least USD 44 billion. These losses are mostly but not exclusively felt in countries with emerging economies, adding an extra hurdle to their development. 

Loopholes like these exist in the global tax system because the rules have been shaped by a handful of wealthy nations through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The injustice here is clear. 

We need a new system for setting the tax rules that allows every country to have a say and a vote in global tax matters. The Tax Convention under the UN has the potential to do this. A more democratic and inclusive system for making decisions on tax can help shift power imbalances and build a system that works for people everywhere – including the countries hardest hit by the climate crisis and economic injustice.

Activists from Greenpeace Spain demonstrate at Setas de Sevilla monument. The action marked the first day of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development Conference (FfD4), where Greenpeace is calling on world leaders to push for ambitious commitments to fair new global rules on tax and debt, and to hold billionaires and fossil polluters accountable for the climate change they cause. © Pedro Armestre / Greenpeace

5. Tax is a superpower and a game changer. It’s what provides wellbeing and security for all of us

Taxes are a powerful (and vital) tool to pay for our schools, education, our public healthcare and other public services. Fair, progressive and efficient tax policies could help countries raise money to tackle growing inequality, curb rising living costs, protect nature, and fund climate action.

With high public debt rates in almost all countries of the world, the costs of servicing these debts are increasing, pushing some poorer countries to the brink of crisis. The cost of climate and environmental destruction is equally increasing. In other countries, a lot of public money is lost due to flawed priorities like subsidies to encourage more fossil fuel production. We know the system doesn’t need to work like this. There are many fairer and better solutions available.

Agreeing to a mechanism that will tax the global profits of international oil and gas companies and the wealthiest of us could raise hundreds of billions of dollars that could be channeled into UN funds and domestic resource mobilisation to support the most vulnerable communities rebuild and recover from climate disasters.  

The time for reforming tax rules that focused on protecting and enabling the very few to hoard even more wealth is long overdue. It’s time for a change that will put the needs of the people and our planet first. Taxing the super-rich and corporate polluters isn’t optional – it’s essential to secure a prosperous and just future for everyone.

Tax the super-rich

Together, let’s urge governments to tax the super-rich and fund a green and fair future.

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Nina Stros is the Global Senior Policy Expert for Greenpeace International’s Political Unit.

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